Remember, You Will (Not) Die
by Skjalf Frost-Born
Summary: "I don't care about any of that…the only thing I care about is protecting the world that Hamuko and the others sacrificed so much to save!" Shinjiro roared as he launched himself forward. "Anyone who gets in my way, WILL BE CRUSHED!"
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3; those rights belong to Hideaki Anno and Atlus respectively. I'm not making any kind of monetary reward by writing this, and don't expect any. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and to entertain the people who will bother to read this.

**Summary:** "I don't care about any of that…the only thing I care about is protecting the world that Hamuko and the others sacrificed so much to save!" Shinjiro roared as he looked upon the Angel before him with loathing shining within the depths of his glowing red eyes. He lunged forward, the hands of the Evangelion balled up into fists. _**"Anyone who even thinks of getting in my way will be crushed by my hand!" **_

**Warning(s):** This story contains blood, character death, extreme violence, offensive language, sexual themes, use of alcohol, use of drugs, etc.

* * *

**Remember, You Will (Not) Die**

**[Prologue]**

* * *

"You don't have to do this Shinji."

Lifting his steel blue eyes up from the two gravestones that lie before them, Shinjiro Aragaki locked gazes with his best friend, Akihiko Sanada. It had been two weeks since graduation day at Gekkoukan, and since he had lost _**her**_ for the second time. The slight breeze ruffled his unkempt chestnut brown hair, which for once was sans the black beanie. One of his hands were stuffed into the pocket of his maroon peacoat, while the other was holding a mixed bouquet of flowers; many of them saying everything that he didn't get to say himself before it was too late. Violet, yellow, and red Tulips, a Star of Bethlehem in the middle with white and red roses, peonies, pansies, Lilac, Hyacinths, Ginger, Forget-Me-Nots, and Cosmos Chrysanthemums surrounding it, wrapped in white paper held together with a red and orange ribbon. Tapping the tip of his brown boots on the ground underneath them, he snorted.

"Of course I do Aki, that shitty bastard has made it clear that he now has a use for me." He grumbled as he turned his head back towards the grave, so he wouldn't have to witness the guilt and turmoil in those grey pools. Since the moment he had been discharged from the hospital, and the rest of the SEES members came upon him and her sitting on the roof of the high school. Only Akihiko knew exactly how he felt having those final moments between him and Hamuko interrupted. Because he too had been in love with the vibrant girl that had not only changed their lives, but sacrificed her life to allow them the world to continue on.

He had admitted it to Shinjiro himself recently, and even admitted that he had pursued her only to be turned away. And while most would be angered, Shinjiro wasn't. No one could've known if he would've ever woke up from his coma, and if there was anyone he would've entrusted her heart to it would've been Aki. But now, this guilt was for a different reason than their mutually felt feelings for the same girl.

Just yesterday, a letter had come in from Shinji's absentee father; a bastard that the 18-year-old had been determined to forget since he was placed on the doorstep of the orphanage where he met Aki and Miki, the latter's younger sister. Instead of having any decency, the man was straight to the point and just as arrogant as always.

"_**Come. I have a use for you**_…can you believe the balls that bastard has?" Shinjiro joked humorlessly, as he kneeled down in front of the grave on the left. He trailed his fingers along the name inscribed into the stone gently.

Clenching his fists tightly, Akihiko gritted his teeth while keeping his eyes on the bouquet of sunflowers they had placed upon his sister's grave.

"After all this time, after leaving you with those _**relatives**_ of yours, not even bothering to look for you after they abandoned you at the orphanage…he probably didn't even realize you ever left that house!" He raged, as he clenched his eyes closed and turned his head to the side. "What could've pushed him to want to see you now? What is this use he now has for you Shinji?"

The corner of his lip twitched, but he only closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling.

"It doesn't really matter in the end; he has the power to make things exceedingly difficult for all of us, especially Mitsuru…with having to deal with taking over the Kirijō group and establishing herself as the true leader now that her father is dead." Shinjiro acknowledged bitterly, before placing his bouquet amongst the others that practically decorated the space. "Besides…" He trailed off wistfully, his eyes turned towards the blue sky above them.

"I feel that this is something that I have to do…" Chuckling humorlessly, he tilted his head and gazed at his friend with determined eyes.

"For years I have been running from my past, my mistakes, just existing…regretting everything…I feel like now is the time to face it all." Shinjiro stated frankly as he stood up to his full height of 5'10". Brushing his bangs away from his face, he turned his gaze once more towards the sky and allowed a small smile to form on his face. "When I return here after my business with the old man is finished, I will be a changed man…a better man, like I had promised Hamuko I would become." He declared firmly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his peacoat.

From the expression on the boxer's face, the taller male could tell that his friend wanted nothing more than to persuade him out of his choice, but knew that it was no use. There were only two people who held that kind of power over him, and both of them were lying before him in these graves at their feet. After a few moments of silence, Akihiko hung his head and accepted his defeat. Raising a gloved hand, he placed it onto Shinjiro's shoulder and stared at him with hard eyes.

"While I don't like it, I'll accept your decision...but know that if we come to find out that you're being placed in danger, we will come running to get you back…we've already lost so much and we don't want to lose you again." He declared sincerely and full of the resolve that he had come to gain after their adventures to scale Tartarus and then during their battle with Nyx.

The shock he felt showed on Shinjiro's face briefly, before he shook his head and closed his eyes as the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"I hear ya…and thanks, Aki."

Both of the ex-SEES members looked up at the sky together, their minds focused upon the future that now lay ahead of them.

Unseen by Shinjiro and Akihiko, standing in between them were two female spirits. One, an older girl with brown hair and crimson eyes placed her hand on Shinjiro and the other a small child with brown hair and grey eyes that placed hers onto Akihiko. Both looked towards each other with cheerful smiles. Though the future was uncertain, the two young men were ready to face it head on.

Shinjiro was in for rough times, and he would be thrown into a fight that would determine the fate of the world as the wild card once did.

Only this time, he would be on his own.

By his side, Hamuko rested her head on his shoulder, praying to the Kami that they would look after him where she couldn't any longer.

* * *

**End of Prologue**

* * *

This is an idea that had come to me after reading vast amounts of Evangelion fanfiction where Shinji was either raised by someone else or was someone else entirely. With my intense love of the Megami Tensei series, and particularly my love for Persona 3, this idea was born. Shinjiro Aragaki is in fact Shinji Ikari. I'm going to go ahead and start working on the next chapter, and as you can tell there are going to be some major differences. Shinji is 18, and so 3 years older than he is in canon. This is not the Shinji that is from canon, and he will certainly not handle things the same way canon Shinji did (or didn't?). He is Shinjiro Aragaki, a guy that doesn't take anyone bullshit and will head butt you without a second thought. He is the hero (would anti-hero fit better?) of this story and hopefully I'll be able to portray him well enough.

I know some will probably not like how short this is, but keep in mind that it is a prologue and not an actual chapter. I will try to keep every chapter about 10,000 or so words a chapter. I won't be able to do that all the time, but that is a goal I'm trying to go for.

At the moment, that is all I have to say. So I hope that you will enjoy the chapter enough to stick around.

_Skjálf Frost-Born_


	2. You Will (Not) Refuse, Part I

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3; those rights belong to Hideaki Anno and Atlus respectively. I'm not making any kind of monetary reward by writing this, and don't expect any. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and to entertain the people who will bother to read this.

**Summary:** "I don't care about any of that…the only thing I care about is protecting the world that Hamuko and the others sacrificed so much to save!" Shinjiro roared as he looked upon the Angel before him with loathing shining within the depths of his glowing red eyes. He lunged forward, the hands of the Evangelion balled up into fists. _**"Anyone who even thinks of getting in my way will be crushed by my hand!" **_

**Warning(s):** This story contains blood, character death, extreme violence, offensive language, sexual themes, use of alcohol, use of drugs, etc.

* * *

**[Chapter 1]: You Will (Not) Refuse, Part I**

* * *

Stepping off of the train, Shinjiro lugged his duffle bag over his shoulder with a curse. The ride from Tatsumi Port Island to Tokyo-3 had been long and tiring. He couldn't say it wasn't peaceful, because most of the ride he had been the only passenger on the train after a certain point. But with only having music to listen to and having read through several new cookbooks he received as a present from his friends multiple times over, it didn't take long for him to become bored. Thankfully, before it got too bad he had reached his destination.

Lifting his head up, he looked out into the empty train station while tucking his free hand into the pocket of his maroon peacoat. Glancing around from beneath his messy brown bangs, he tapped his brown boots onto the pavement before pulling out a picture and note out of his pocket. His steel blue eyes narrowed at the picture showing of an attractive older women leaning forward in her picture showing some cleavage. An arrow had been drawn on the picture pointing directly to her breasts.

"_Pretty nice huh?_ Tch. What is with this woman?" Shinjiro mumbled as he shook his head before turning his attention back to the note that had been sent with the picture. Written in a quick scrawl was a message that she would meet him at the front of the train station. Glancing over at the clock that was hanging a bit above him on a pillar; he saw that he had arrived a minute or so late.

Sighing, he turned on the heel of his brown shoes towards the exit. The clack of his heels on the pavement echoed only seemed to further emphasize how empty this place was, and Shinjiro narrowed his eyes.

Never had he seen a train station so empty in a city, and it made him feel uneasy. It reminded him of how it was when the Midnight Hour would come over Tatsumi Port Island. The closer he got to the exit, the better he felt. Stepping outside into the sunlight, he tucked the note into his pocket and lifted his arm to block the sunlight from shining into his eyes. After he was sure that he wouldn't be blinded, he removed his arm and took a look around.

Much to his shock and growing unease, the streets themselves were completely devoid of life. His lips thinned into a straight line, and his eyes narrowed as his body tensed up. What was going on here? Something wasn't right and this only confirmed it.

"I need to find out what the hell is going on here and what that old bastard wants quickly; nothing about this is making any sense…" He trailed off as he looked around for his transport. After a few minutes, he didn't see anyone and he scowled as he reached into his pocket and grabbed the note again. Reading the note once more, he crushed it in his palm and tossed it aside before doing the same with the picture. Obviously not only was he dealing with his shitty excuse for a father but his incompetent underlings as well.

Turning to leave he placed the circular headphones that had been left to him from Hamuko on his ears. It was then that he noticed something in his peripheral vision; he whipped his head to look to his left. His blue eyes widened slightly and he slid into his usual stance whenever he and the others went into Tartarus instinctively. Standing there a bit away from him was a pale young woman, a slender but pretty thing, something he knew Junpei would've been gushing over.

'_Or he would have if he wasn't with the Red Lolita…'_ , he considered with not a small amount of amusement when thinking of the unlikely couple the two made, and how different the kid was to how he was before he had went into a coma. His thoughts didn't distract him from the girl, who for some reason reminded him a lot of that robot girl, Aigis and how she was before spending time bonding with Hamuko. It could've been the apathetic look or the short hair style that framed her pretty face. But besides that…there was something else about her…

Moments of silence past between them before a piercing screech shattered the atmosphere, and the ground rumbled around him. Blinking, Shinjiro turned in the direction of the noise and saw a strange alien-like being walking around. Stumbling suddenly when the alien's foot had smashed down onto the ground a few feet away from him, causing the concrete and pavement to break apart and sink underneath it while the buildings around it collapsed. A gust of dust blew in Shinjiro's direction and he raised his arm up to block any of it to get into his eyes.

If there was one thing that would guarantee his death was if he was blinded out here.

Once the dust was clear, he turned to glance back over at the girl but the 18-year-old's eyes widened when he came to find the girl missing. Not a sign of her ever being there in the first place. Whipping his head from side to side, he looked around for her before bringing his hands up to cover his ears as a deafening shriek pierced the air. The muffled sound of helicopter blades reached his ears, as well as the sounds of their guns firing at the slowly moving behemoth. Cursing, the brown-haired boy turned on his heel and began moving away from the commotion, all the while sticking his hand into his duffle bag to wrap around the familiar grip of his evoker. Getting a bit away, he turned around watched the scene in horror.

'_What the fuck is going on here!?'_ Shinjiro thought in shock at the turn of events. He had expected something when he was brought here, but he didn't think that he would find himself front row seats to a live-action Sci-Fi movie like the ones Hamuko had basically begged him to go see with her. Discarding his thoughts of her, he focused his mind on the present.

But as he watched what seemed like a futile attempt by the military to try and stop this monster, he couldn't help but wonder why they weren't trying something new after their current method failed? It was something that SEES had discovered while during their time in Tartarus. If one attack didn't work, then we would try something else until they found their opponent's weakness. Despite knowing nothing about this creature, it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that their weapons were not even making a scratch on it. As if to prove his point, another helicopter swooped in and began firing at the green giant, and it bounced off of the abomination's bird-skull like face.

Unlike the first few times it had been attacked, it finally seemed to take offense to the helicopter's attempts to stop it. With another screech, a beam of light shot from the red orb that was in the middle of the colossal being's chest. Instantly, it flashed through the middle of the helicopters surrounding it and caused them to explode. Large burning chunks of the crafts shot down into the city below, one in particular coming towards him at full speed.

"Tch!" Shinjiro brought the evoker out of his bag; the light from the sun caused the metal to shine as he brought it to the side of his head and pulled the trigger without hesitation. "Persona!" He called out with conviction, as he felt the link with his Persona snap into place and a surge of energy rush through him. Before him was Castor, there and ready to block the piece of wreckage that would've killed Shinjiro otherwise. All the while, Shinjiro didn't flinch even from the extreme heat or the possibility that if he didn't have a persona, he would've died.

He had almost died once, and had been prepared for it. Death was not something that he could ever truly fear again.

The embodiment of one half of the Gemini constellation sprung forth and blocked the flaming metal from hitting him without a hitch. Once it was clear that he was no longer in danger, Castor promptly disappeared but not before turning to nod towards him. Shinjiro sighed before turning his attention to the behemoth that was currently doing a very good rendition of Godzilla. For some reason, he could just tell that his coming here had something to do with this thing. He had no idea why, but that was the feeling he had in his gut.

"Hey!" A voice called out, grabbing his attention. He turned his head in time to see a blue sports car making its way towards him. Hanging a bit out was a woman, waving her arm in greeting cheerfully. Assuming that it was his ride, he snorted, "Well they certainly took their sweet ass time getting over here."

Clenching his fists, he knew that if he needed to find out what the hell was going on. What was this large monster strolling about in this city, destroying everything in its path, and why had he called him here after all these years? Shinjiro knew that if he was ever going get any answers to these questions, then he would have to interrogate his father.

'_If that old bastard thinks I'm just going to do whatever he wants without question, then he will have another thing coming.'_ He decided, as his attention was then brought to the car that came to quick halt by his side. With on last glance in the direction that girl was in, he tucked his hands into his pockets, and turned slightly to look down into the face that was looking up at him from the open car window. Immediately, he recognized the features of the woman in the picture and the surprised look that had on her face.

She was beautiful, he would admit, on par with Mitsuru even. But she didn't hold the same presence as the Ice Queen of SEES. Her hair was an interesting shade of plum, which went well with her dark brown eyes and framed her face nicely. Just like from her picture, he could see that she had a fit body, showing that she was active. What exactly she does, he had no idea, but he knew that he couldn't underestimate her. A lesson he learned really well due to the females he stood alongside during his time in Iwatodai.

"W-Well you're certainly not what I expected; you look nothing like your picture at all." She joked nervously, as she seemed to take her time to take all of him in. Snorting, he shook his head. That was an understatement.

It had been three years since he had allowed a picture of himself to be taken, and that was when he was actually attending school along with Akihiko and Mitsuru. During those three years, he had gone through a growth spurt and shot up like a weed. Then with all the physical conditioning he had been through dealing with the Midnight Hour and running around Tartarus, it was no surprise that she would be shocked at how radically different he was from the photo taken of him when he was 15.

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned to face her fully.

"So I'm guessing you're supposed to take me to go see the old bastard huh?" Shinjiro asked, his face slightly shadowed by his bangs and his beanie that was pulled down low on his head. His lips were turned down in a slight frown, and he slouched slightly as he waited for her answer.

The woman nodded, and leaned over to push the passenger door open for him, Shinjiro's eyes were drawn to the cross that rested against her chest.

"Yep, I am Captain Misato Katsuragi and I'm your escort, Ikari-kun…Sorry for the wait, got a little distracted along the way." She introduced herself, saluting him with two fingers and a wink.

Grunting, Shinjiro moved off the concrete and placed maneuvered his bag behind the seat he was going to be sitting in. Once it was secure, he slid into the car, keeping the low roof of the car in mind. Straightening up in his seat, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his peacoat, "Shinji Ara –Ikari." He stated gruffly, though his frown deepened at the slipup. He had become too used to using his own chosen name for years. With that, he leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

On the other side of the car, Misato blinked in surprised at the short answer and chuckled a bit. Her thoughts stuck on how similar the boy was with the father he didn't seem to respect at all.

'_But seriously, he is nothing like his file said he would be…I really need to get with Ritsuko and find out why the profile we have on him is obviously not right!'_ Misato turned her attention to the rearview mirror as she began to drive. Looking at the road ahead of them, Misato mulled over some topics that she could bring up for conversation. After all, it had been no small shock to find out that the Commander's son was in fact the Third Child, and the person chosen to pilot one of the Evangelions, which were humanity's last hope against the angels. Glancing over at the young man, she couldn't help but blush a little. With his head leaning back, the sunlight revealed his face, which was quite handsome in her opinion. Yes, he looked a lot like his dad (just add a beard and it's a younger version of him), but there was a softer quality to his face that she could only guess came from his mother. It was during her observations that she then noticed her charge looking at something within the side mirror with a raised brow.

"Is there something wrong Ikari-kun?" She asked curiously.

Frowning, Shinjiro narrowed his eyes at whatever he was watching.

"What the fuck are those guys doing now?" He inquired in a questioning but wary tone. Curious as to what he was talking about, Misato looked in the rearview mirror and after a few seconds, her face paled. She cursed as her mouth fell open in shock and horror at the completely ludicrous idea that the JSSDF had decided to go with in their assault against the angel. "ARE THEY CRAZY?!" She exclaimed as she tightened her grip on her steering wheel, and stepped on the gas causing the car to jolt forward a bit jostling Shinjiro in his seat.

Misato was determined to get her and Shinjiro out of the way of the blast as fast as she could. The JSSDF had decided to go with the N2 mine, and if they were caught in the blast, she didn't want to think of what would happen if she didn't get Shinjiro to NERV headquarters safe and sound. Shivering at the thought, she continued to pick up speed as the bomb came closer to impacting with the angel by the second. Looking over at Shinji, she was surprised to see that he was watching the bomb's fall without fear, weariness yes, but no fear.

Grinning slightly, Misato decided then and there that she may grow to like this kid. Of course, this train of thought was broken when the angel's body was engulfed in a bright light, and an explosion rocked the surrounding areas. A large cloud of wind rushed out from the center of the blast, and the purple-haired female was only able to stop her car just in time to have the car flip over from the force of the gust.

* * *

Watching the video feed of the JSSDF's final attempt at stopping the angel, Gendo Ikari, the Commander of Nerv smirked in amusement of the frustration that was clear on the three generals' faces. There on the screen, it was clear to all that even their final option was no use against the Angel.

'_As I've stated many times before, conventional weapons have to chance against the Angels.'_ He judged, while leaning forward with his nose brushing against his steepled hands. The light reflected off of his orange-tinted glasses, shielding his eyes from view of the generals down below him who had turned to him as one. Contempt burned in their eyes as they gritted their teeth.

"Well it seems that we'll have to leave it to you Ikari, but you only get this one chance…don't fail." The eldest of the generals relented reluctantly; the two other generals on by his sides gave him a curt nod all the while eyeing him distastefully. But Gendo didn't care about any of that, what he cared about was the fact that he now had proven the JSSDF as the useless faction they were in these kinds of situations. After wasting a N2 mine like they have, as well as losing quite a bit of firepower in their useless assault, funds would be funneled into Nerv and its agenda.

By his side, Kozo Fuyutsuki, the Sub-Commander of Nerv cleared his throat, gaining Gendo's attention, and leaned in towards him. "The boy is being delivered to the base right this moment, it is time to go." He whispered, glancing over at the generals that were watching them with intense scrutiny.

Turning his gaze from his old friend, Gendo nodded and stood up, looking down at the generals and soldiers manning the stations within the room. His smirk deepened as he once again pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "We'll be taking our leave as of now." He announced dismissively, as he turned on the heel of his shoes with Kozo following immediately behind him. As they left the room, the eldest of the generals turned to face the screen showing the visual of the Angel. His dark eyes held a defeated glint as he slammed his fist down onto the console before him.

"Damn this, to think we would have to rely on that damned upstart Ikari!" He raged, all the while the same sentiment was seen on the faces of all of the room's occupants.

Now that Nerv was going to be relied on to get rid of their enemy with their toys, the power structure was going to shift drastically if Nerv succeeds. And as much as they wanted the Angel to be stopped, that wasn't something that they ever wanted to happen.

In the hallway leading towards their transportation, Kozo glanced over at Gendo with an appraising look.

"So how long has it been since the two of you have seen each other…you and your son?" He questioned, honestly curious of how his friend was feeling about the upcoming reunion with his estranged son. Nothing changed in the Nerv Commander's face as he allowed himself to think back to the last time he had been face to face with his son. They had stood in front of his wife's grave in complete silence, but unlike the other times when his son would attempt a conversation; Shinji didn't even glance in his direction, and said nothing before walking away to leave the Commander standing at the grave by himself.

Even now he couldn't forget how shocked he was at the unusual behavior of his son.

"It has been 11 years actually, much longer than I thought…" Gendo replied, closing his eyes and continuing forward without another word. Kozo shook his head, all the while staring at the Commander's back with pitying eyes. The Ikari family had been doomed the day that Yui-kun had died, and now it was being forcefully reunited. He could only hope that things didn't go horribly wrong, because humanity and their plans couldn't afford it at this point.

'_I wonder what you would think of your family if you could see them now Yui-kun…'_ he thought wistfully while following his leader.

Now that Shinji Ikari had been brought to Tokyo-3, it was time for the scenario to begin.

* * *

Shinjiro pat his shoulders with his fist as he and Misato made their way into Nerv headquarters. After they had managed to recover from the car being tossed topside, Shinjiro had been tasked with flipping the car back over onto its wheels. It had been easy enough, but the travel from Iwatodai to Tokyo-3 hadn't been very good on his body. He wasn't used to being trapped in the train, and would much rather walk.

"Well if there's anything I can say, it's that I'm happy you are here to help flip my baby back over…it would've taken me quite a bit to do it myself." Misato joked, while driving into one of the compartments that were ready to transport the car into the base. Grunting, Shinjiro looked down at the booklet that had been given to him during the rest of the ride. "Nerv?" he mumbled as he looked at the title printed across the front with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right; we're a secret organization that is controlled by the UN." Misato informed him, while leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs.

Picking it up, he took the ID card that held his information clipped to the front of it, and not surprisingly the picture of what he looked like when he was 15. Scoffing at the frown that was on his face, he turned his attention to the information printed inside.

"I'll bet." He commented absentmindedly, while reading everything that he could. If he had any chance of finding out what the hell was going on, then he needed to start with the organization that his father seemed to run.

Groaning, the purple-haired woman brushed her bangs away from her face all the while staring over at the young man sitting next to her. When she had thought the boy was like his father, she wasn't kidding. It had taken a lot of effort to socialize with the son of her boss, and even then he usually kept it at monosyllable answers. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the change in lighting.

The artificial lights in the car train's pathway replaced the sunlight, and she noticed from the corner of her eye that Shinjiro was reading the booklet with rapt attention. Leaning out of her car slightly, she was happy to see that they were getting closer to the base. Once they came through the tunnel, the lightning changed and Shinjiro's eyes were drawn from the book to the window.

Steel blue eyes widened in shock as he looked down below him at the underground city, his lips parted as he voiced his thoughts.

"This is a GeoFront?" he asked in awed shock at the sight, while Misato smiled at the new expression that she was being shown from the young man who had been mostly indifferent up till this point.

"Yes, this is our secret underground base, Nerv's central…" Shinjiro glanced over at the woman who too was looking down below them. "This city is the key to rebuilding out world, a fortress to all mankind!"

Their ride soon came to a stop, and the GeoFront was blocked from their sight.

"Well here we are Ikari-kun!" she exclaimed as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. Grunting in response, he too pushed open his door and slipped out, leaving the Nerv booklet on the seat after slipping the ID into his pocket. For a second he moved to grab his bag, but Misato stopped him.

"Don't worry about your bags someone will bring it into the base for you." Misato started, but she saw the corner of his lips curl down and she continued hopeful that she'll set his worries at ease, "They'll be taken care of so don't worry, besides we're late enough as it is and we really need to get a move on."

Sighing, he brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck while leaning his head to the side.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." He replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and moving over to stand by her side.

Nodding, Misato began to walk forward into the base. At first they had been walking at a brisk pace, determined (well Misato anyway) to make it to their destination with no problems. Unfortunately, after the seventh time seeing the same door, Shinjiro came to the conclusion that she had no idea where the hell they were. It was after their eighth time ending up where they started that the teen decided to speak up, "We're lost."

Halting, Misato turned around and scratched her chin with a nervous chuckle.

"Ah, you noticed then?" she questioned, but received a snort.

"We've passed by this point eight times now." He stated bluntly, narrowing his eyes at a map that was on the wall. Just from it only, he could tell that this place was huge. Glancing over at the purple-haired woman, who was now also trying to decipher the map herself, he sighed.

"While I would welcome a delay in meeting with the old bastard…is there someone you could call to come get us?" Shinjiro asked, visibly disgruntled with their current situation.

Misato nodded while making her way over to the phone was embedded into the wall next to the map. Picking up the receiver, she punched in a few buttons and after a minute the line went through.

"Yes, this is Captain Katsuragi, contact Doctor Akagi, I require her assistance." The woman ordered in an assertive tone that honestly surprised Shinjiro. From his interactions with her so far, he hadn't really taken her seriously. But now he could definitely see some of Mitsuru in her now at the moment.

Nodding to whatever the person on the other end said, she placed the receiver back onto the hook and took a step back. Crossing her arms, she sighed and she jutted out her lips in a pout. "Great, Ritsuko is sure to chew me out now…I knew I should've taken that tour when I had the chance." She mumbled as a grimace formed on her face from whatever treatment this person was going to give her when they arrived.

Realizing that they weren't going to be going anywhere, Shinjiro moved back a few steps and leaned against the wall. He leaned most of his weight on his right leg as brought his circular headphones to his ears before crossing his arms. The music allowed him to let his mind drift away from the current situation to his friends that he left behind. Akihiko and Mitsuru made him promise to send a message on his wellbeing as soon as possible. Something he would do whenever he had the chance.

'_I'm sure that if I didn't the two of them would come storming here ready to drag me back to Iwatodai with them, Nerv and ramifications be damned…'_ The corner of Shinjiro's lip curled up slightly, but he shook his head.

He would just make sure to contact them. None of them needed anymore problems on their plate. Especially when Shinjiro had no idea as to why he was forced to come here in the first place, it was then a pulse rang through him. The presence of Castor could be felt in the back of his head, ready to spring forth to protect him. With that in mind, he smirked.

'_At least if everything goes south then I will have a trump card.'_

* * *

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

This Shinjiro's entry into the Nerv base, and I have to say that I'm satisfied with it. Next chapter we have the entrance of Ritsuko, the reunion between Gendo Ikari and one irritated Shinjiro Aragaki, plus Shinjiro's first battle in an Evangelion. Shit is about to go down.

The highlight of this chapter for me is the character interactions. You have no idea just how hard it was to imagine the way most of the characters would react to Shinjiro, but I think I did pretty well (I hope lol). Misato interacting with Shinjiro was especially hard. After all, she was able to interact with Shinji in canon as she did, because of his character. Shinjiro is nothing like Shinji, so Misato to me ended up feeling awkward. Then again, I honestly feel like she would find interacting with him (especially just meeting him) is awkward. But they'll get better I guess (lol). I was happy with the reviews that I received for the prologue, so I had tried my best to hurry up and update.

Obviously I wasn't able to have 10,000 words on this chapter because I felt it would be best to break it up a bit in the end. I've come to find that once I hit that 5,000 mark then I begin to slow down. That would probably lead to me to losing inspiration, so I can promise that I'll have chapters about 5,000-8,000 words long at best.

As this is my first story posted here, I'm striving to complete it. Nothing upsets me more than when someone creates a story, but never finishes it. But I can also understand why it happens; life isn't fair for anyone.

Well hope you'll continue to stick around.

_Skjálf Frost-Born_


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